I am one of the ten percent

About 10 percent of the time, after [a] patient has recovered … pain persists. It persists for months and oftentimes for years, and when that happens, it is its own disease." (Elliot Krane)

I just watched this 8 minute video. (Here's the link:  http://on.ted.com/Krane)  

I cried. 

I'm so glad that chronic pain is becoming a more widespread & popular topic in non-medical circles. 

I can't wait for the day where this kind of pain will no longer be treated with strong painkillers that don't do much & only treat the symptom, not the cause; nor with medications that make one so drowsy that their quality of life is just as diminished as it was before. 

I am one of the ten percent whose pain from an injury has turned chronic and is in fact now a disease itself. 

I am one of the ten percent. 

I do not say that I am one of the unlucky ten percent. 

My life has changed dramatically. It has been turned upside down. Dreams have been shattered. Precious things and people have been lost. 

New hope has sprung. New faith, new trust, new courage, new beliefs ... A new lifestyle. New options. New passions. New ideas. New definitions of quality of life. 

I am one of the ten percent who get to be an example of while pain for me is constant, suffering is optional. 

Sent on my iPhone ... Down Under :)